Moonmadness

Untitled

Moonmadness is an album released in March 1976 by English progressive rock band Camel. It was their 4th album and the last to feature the original line-up (Latimer, Bardens, Ferguson, Ward). After the success of the tightly structured, instrumental The Snow Goose in 1975, the band added vocals to their music again. Fans are tightly divided over which album they consider to be Camel's greatest, although most see the two are being companion pieces. The sound of Moonmadness has often been compared to that of Pink Floyd, and indeed the vocals do somewhat resemble that of Floyd's Gilmour, and the mellow songs and Latimer's guitar (not to mention the "moon" theme running through the tracks) add to the similarities.

Many fans consider "Air Born" and the instrumental "Lunar Sea" to be arguably perhaps the greatest songs in Camel's oeuvre.

The album has an overall theme, just as their previous one did, but doesn't follow a storyline since it's mostly based on the band members themselves. As written in the CD Booklet: Overall, the tracks comprising the album were conceived as a loose concept based on the individual personalities that made up Camel; "Air Born" about Andrew Latimer, "Lunar Sea" about Andy Ward, "Chord Change" about Peter Bardens and "Another Night" about Doug Ferguson.

The cover was designed by Field.

The last song on the album, Lunar Sea, ends with a minute-long wind-blowing effect. When played on an LP, the record arm would skip during the end of this part and naturally return to the beginning of the effect, playing it endlessly.

In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #23 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".

Track listing

Side One

1. "Aristillus" (Andrew Latimer) – 1:56
2. "Song Within a Song" (Peter Bardens, Latimer) – 7:14
3. "Chord Change" (Bardens, Latimer) – 6:44
4. "Spirit of the Water" (Bardens) – 2:07

Side Two

1. "Another Night" (Latimer, Bardens, Andy Ward, Doug Ferguson ) – 6:57
2. "Air Born" (Bardens, Latimer) – 5:01
3. "Lunar Sea" (Bardens, Latimer) – 9:10

Bonus Tracks on 2002 Remaster

1. "Another Night" (Single Version, A-Side of Decca F-R 13656) – 3:22
2. "Spirit of the Water" (Demo, recorded at Basing Street Studios 26 January 1976 and is previously unreleased) – 2:13
3. "Song Within a Song" (Recorded Live at Hammersmith Odeon 14 April 1976) – 7:11
4. "Lunar Sea" (Recorded Live at Hammersmith Odeon 14 April 1976) – 9:51
5. "Preparation/Dunkirk" (Recorded Live at Hammersmith Odeon 14 April 1976) - 9:32

Personnel

• Andrew Latimer: Guitars, Flute, Vocals (B 1, 2)
• Peter Bardens: Keyboards, Vocals (A 4)
• Doug Ferguson: Bass, Vocals (A 2)
• Andy Ward: Drums, Percussion, Voice (A 1)

• Engineered by Rhett Davies
• Original LP Cover Design by Field

Release details

• 1976, UK, Deram Records TXS-R 115, Release Date March 1976, LP
• 2002, UK, London 8829292, Release Date 3 June 2002, CD (remastered edition)